Check out this guest post from our friend Molly James, a member of the team behind Just Do It, an amazing new documentary featuring UK climate activists putting their bodies on the line for the future.
(If you're in the USA, and inspired to "just do it", you may want to check out what's going down in Washington, DC next month, www.tarsandsaction.org.)
As we've seen in recent months, groups like Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, Peaceful Uprising, and of course 350.org are bringing civil disobedience to the forefront of the American climate movement. After a decade of signing petitions and lobbying unresponsive politicians, American climate activists are sick of watching their calls for action fall on deaf ears. This palpable frustration and hunger for change is moving citizens, like those who scaled Chicago’s Fisk coal station, to take their activism to the next level.
Here in the UK, climate activists have long taken up the mantle of direct action. With roots in the radical suffragettes movements of the early 20th century, British activists movements have cultivated a uniquely powerful culture of creative civil disobedience. Organizing non-hierarchically, countless groups are using consensus decision making to enact direct actions that are playful, newsworthy and impactful.
It is this unique culture that is captured by the upcoming documentary Just Do It – a tale of modern-day outlaws from Emily James. Emily spent over a year with some of the UK’s biggest trouble makers, documenting their clandestine activities. Just Do It introduces a powerful cast of mischievous and inspiring characters who put their bodies in the way; they super-glue themselves to bank trading floors, blockade factories and attack coal power stations en-masse, all with a sense of fun, creativity and wit.
The film's message is simple: sick of waiting on politicians, lobbyists and international bodies to change the world, these folks are taking action and so can you.
A totally independent, grassroots project Just Do It is more a movement than a film. For us on the Just Do It team, this is a film intended to inspire people to take action on climate (along with the rest of our world's social and environmental issues) and we plan to show it to as many people as possible to meet that end. From the very beginning our metric of success has been not how much money the film makes but how many people it inspires to take action.
After two years of hard work from a team of over 100 people (virtually all volunteers) and the generosity of nearly 500 crowd funders, Just Do It has begun its UK theatrical tour as of July 15th. But, if we are going to get this film to US audiences we are going to need your help. Releasing a film takes some pretty big bucks (most Hollywood releases cost the same, if not more to release, than what it took to make the film in the first place).
As Just Do It’s resident American, I joined the team confident that the ethos and methods it portrays would be a powerful next step for American climate movements. Right now, you can help ensure that Americans get a chance to see the passion behind the UK climate movement and the power of direct action. It’s time to stop asking, start demanding and just do it.
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